The 2025 government shutdown, lasting from Oct. 1- Nov. 12, was something I did not have on my bucket list for last year. Frankly, I do think it is kind of warranted, considering the track record of our recent presidents. I believe it affects us all more than we realize. Almost our entire lives revolve around the government, whether we like it or not, and things do not function properly during shutdowns.
People with supplementary government benefits, like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP), Veterans’ benefits, and Medicare, lose funding for those programs, which means that they may not receive the benefits in full, or at all. This can be detrimental to their daily lives, since it impacts an extra income that helps them make it through things like medical bills and groceries.
Parents like my mother rely on these benefits to survive, and when she cannot receive funding for the things that she needs to survive, especially on disability, it makes it extremely difficult to get by. In a world where everything necessary costs a more immoderate amount than it should, benefits like these help the people who need it.
It seems most of the people here in Prosper were less affected by the shutdown, since they are not under as much monetary stress as the people where I grew up. However, that does not mean that there are some people who lost their jobs during the shutdown. There are always people struggling behind the scenes.
The shutdown was more personal to me because I know what it’s like to be in a position where not receiving the help you need means a lot. I was a kid on the free lunch program growing up, and my dad and I lived paycheck to paycheck while I was in middle school. I know what it’s like to go hungry — to want, but not to have. To have my parents give up almost everything to make sure I was fed, had clothes on my back and go to school, makes me see this in a different light. Knowing other people were not receiving the help they needed, especially when things suck so bad and when you do not have enough to get by on your own, it hurts. It hurts to see people in the same rocky boat I was in once, or worse off.
I am much better off now, but seeing what was happening reminded me of how it used to be. Now that everything is running again, it keeps me on edge to see if it may happen again, whether it be anytime soon or way further out in the future. Congress actually just released a bill for funding the government ahead of another shutdown. Whether it means something to you or not, it is still crucial to people who are less fortunate and it is important to remember the significance of things like this.
This article was edited by: Trisha Panicker, Landon Byrom, Polly Greaves and Yousuf Ali
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